I had a skydive accident a year ago where I lost the use of my left arm. In August of 2011 I asked if it could be amputated. The doctors agreed for I had no motor or feeling in this arm and since I was still so active and working they agreed for it could get infected or damaged and I would not know. And yes one of these activities is SKYDIVING. All the pain I had and still have is in my PHANTOM ARM. At first we would tape my bad arm to my side until the amputation and away I would go. First jump was 8 weeks after the accident. The accident intailed 8 broken bones three in my left foot, left rib, left wrist, left clavical, left corcoid process, left scapula, and I had cut above my right eye but worst of all a brachail plexus injury. That is a series of nerves tha control the shoulder, arm and hand. They had been avulsioned from my spinal cord from c5 to t1. Anyway since the accident I have had 24 successful jumps since then (had to keep my license current). You can see more about me on my web site at www.1armskydiver.com. If you have any questions feel free to contact me. God Bless and Blue Skies!

Thank you for sharing your story, it's motivational and I'm glad to hear you're getting back up into the skies! I have a friend in the military who lost an arm to an IED and his phantom arm was permanently clenched and in pain. After countless hours of physical therapy and psychology sessions, he watched this TED talk and tried the mirror idea and said it made a difference immediately. The part about phantom limbs in particular starts around 9 minutes but the entire talk is fascinating. I'm not a doctor but hope this helps!!